String-tensioner for violins



E. F. HAFELFINGER.

STRING TENSIONER FOR VIOLINS APPLICATION FILED JULY 24, 1919.

Patented Dec. 7, 1920.

I To all whom itnwy concern:

one, a citizen of the UNITED STATES 1mm 1-. mnLrmonn, or wnmwnn, NEW .mnsmr.

scams-Tensions. ron. vIoLms.

Be it known that I EMIL F. HAFELFIN- United States, residing in Weehawken in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in String-Tensioners for Violins, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for tensionin the strings of violins and other musica instruments. The object of my invention is to simplify and improve the -mountinfi of the stringadjusting elbow-lever or be in the end of the bracket usually attached to the tail-piece of a violin, and to make it less expensive to manufacture, while producing a joint or articulation which is 'practicable, and not liable to ermit the bellcrank to become loose or ot erwise to cause trouble. v

To effect these objects I form an opening, referably two oblong len hwise of the bracket. The outer slot,

which is permanently closed at its outer. end, is intended to receive the upright'arm of the elbow-lever, which arm is provided with eutaways upon its opposite sides. By-

this 0 ration opposing integral shoulders are 1e on each 0 the op osite sides of the elbow-lever, to engage t e edges of the bracket slot, and thus afford a bearing or fulcrum for the elbow-lever.

The inner of the two slots is'used principally for the purpose of providing a way forthe bell-crank to be introduced into the outer slot, where said bell-crank is provided with a head, to which .the string is attached, and this inner or second slot is made of relatively large size, with a view to affordin room for said head to pass therethrou h.

The inner or second slot is expanded enough to g ermit passage therethrough of the head. he metal or partition between the slots is split wide enough to permit the cutaway portion of the elbow-lever to be slipped or passed bodily therethrough into the narrow outer slot.

The next operation is to press the bulgedout integral sides'of the bracket back again to substantially their original ositions, thereby restoring the shape of t e inner opening to its original long slotted. shape, and also closing t e s lit between thetwo slots or openings, and s aping the outer slot to the parallel sides of the elbow lever at Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed july 24,

crank mounted slots extending Patented Dec. 7, 1920. 1910. Serial No. 312,934. I

-- its cutaway portion. The device is capable of withstanding successfully the stresses to whlch the bearing is subjected in the tensionlng of the music wire. Another feature of the improvement resldes in the construction of the head upon the tensionin lever. It has been thepractice to provi e a peripheral groove in said head to receive a loop which is usually formed upon the end of the music Wire. One of the ob]ects of the invention is to adapt the device'also for wires or strings which are not rovided with said 100 s, and to this end t e peripheral groove int e head is enlarged in width, and a diametrical hole is drilled through the head within said groove, so that an end of the music wire or string may be threaded through said hole, a knot being formed upon the end of the string to prevent it from slipping out of the hole. Thus the lever is adapted for 'different'kinds of strings, and its utility sub,- stantially increased. 4 Other features and inafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a violin, showing the present improvements applied thereto.

,Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the stringadvantages will hereadjusting devlce read for attachment to a violin or other musica instrument.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the improved elbow-lever or bell-crank. A.

Fig. 4 is a sectional end elevation and Fig. 5 a sectional side. elevation of the assembled lever and bracket seen at Fig. 2.-

This figure shows a knot made in the string which 1s passed through a hole in the. lever, the knot preventing the string from being pulled out of the hole.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the head of the lever, with the looped end of a string caught in the groove.

Fig. 7 is a plan of a bracket with its perforations, but before it is operated upon to prepare it for the articulation of the lever thereto.

Fig. 8 is a perspective of one form of taper punch or tool by which is opened the inner long closed slot seen at Fig. 7, whereby said slot is made of nearly circular form, and the portion of the bracket between the inner and outer slots is split, forming a communication between the slots.

Fig. 9 shows the bracket after its slots have been openedand the split made between the slots, and illustrates the manner of inserting the string arm of the elbowlever, the head thereof being introduced in the enlarged rounded hole in the bracket.

Fig. 9 shows a spring.

Fig. 10 shows the next step in articulation, the thinned portion of the lever being slipped through the opening between the large slot and the small slot, and occupying a ermanent position in the small slot.

ig. 11 shows how the large and small slots are'restored or closed by a die, so as to lock the shank of the elbow-lever in the small slot; the bracket now having substantially the original appearance seen at Fig. 7, and showing a whole or unbroken integral end at the point where the lever is articulated thereto.

A violin or other musical instrument 20 may have a bridge 21 over which passes a wire or other string 22, as, for example, an E string, which at one end may be caught upon the usual peg or otherwise, and at the other end is caught upon an upright arm 24 of a tensioning lever, said arm having a head 25 provided with a peripheral groove 26 to receive a loop 27 formed upon the wire 22, Fig. 6. The lever arm 24 is mounted to be adjustable to the left and right in Fig. l, and, for this purpose, is pivotally mounted upon a bracket 28, which has at its righthand or rear end a stud 29 to pass up through a hole in the tail-piece 3O usually provided upon the violin for retaining the strings. A nut 31 is threaded upon said stud, to screw down upon the tail-piece and hold the bracket thereto. Said stud 29 is hollow, and a thumb-screw 32 is threaded therethrough so that its tip will bear down upon the tip of an adjusting arm 33 which is made integral with the arm 24, so as to swing the latter about its pivot and thereby efiect fine adjustments in the tensioning of the string 22; the arms 24 and 33 taken to ether forming an elbow-lever.

he bracket 28 may be made of quarter hard or other soft sheet-steel, or preferably a length of flattened soft steel wire; and a hole 34 is made at one end thereof to receive the stud 29. At the other end of the bracket are formed two openings, perforations or slots end to end, the outer slot 35 of a size to fit a thinned portion 36 of the arm at the base thereof, this portion being thinned by making parallel cuts or stamping or otherwise forming flats 37 in its opposite sides, to give it a nearly rectangular shape, as seen at Fig. 10. he inner slot 38 is formed in said bracket near said outer slot,

and may be larger than the latter.

The next step is to force any suitable pointed shank or tool 39, Fig. 8, into the inner slot 38, to expand the same into the shape of a roughly circular hole 38, as at portion of the metal of the bracket which i seen between the two slots at Fi 7.

The head 25 of arm 24 is then introduced into the enlarged hole 38 in the bracket, as at Fig. 9, and the thinned part of the arm or post 24 is passed through the split 40 between the slots, into the outer slot 35, as at Fig. 10.

Then the bracket is placed between the jaws '41 of a die, Fig; 10, and the jaws are brought together, as at Fig. 11, to close both openings 35 and 38, returning them substantially to their original Fig. 7 condition, as at Fig. 11; the s lit 40 between the slots closing up, and t e elbow-lever or hellcrank 24, 33 being securely and ermanently locked in the outer slot 35, ig. 11, by the forced-in walls of the bracket, the walls being confined between the shoulders on the opposite sides of the lever. The articulation of the lever to the bracket is thus completed, since the edges of the hole 35 upon the opposite sides of the thinned portion 36 form walls or bearings upon which rest the convex integral shoulders 42 formed by the cutaways or stampings in the lever, whereby the bell-crank is in effect pivoted to the bracket, but without the slow and costly drilling, fitting and other operations heretofore necessary. It will be observed that the device may be manufactured by using the same tools for some operations as were used for previous tensioning devices, and that a largely increased output will result from the same amount of labor.

It will be seen that the end 43 of the bracket is never opened or broken, but remains permanently whole or-unseparated, and that consequently there is no liability of the bell-crank slip ing out. In other words, the end of the racket is unbroken, where the strain comes when the string is tensioned. There is no possibility of the end of the bracket tending to divide, and any stress which occurs at the articulation of the lever to the bracket tends if anything to lengthen the bracket and,close the sides of the slots.

The tip of the bell-crank arm 33 is widened, as seen at Fig. 3, at the point where it is engageable by the adjusting screw, and this width permits a certain lateral play of the bell-crank without liability of escape from the control of the screw. The widening which is illustrated at said figure will prove ample, when the bracket is mounted according to the present invention, since the sides of the slot 35 may fit quite snugly to the thinned sides of the lever arm, and revent undue lateral vibration thereof. oreover, the slot makes a permanent fitting to said flattened lever sides, avoiding the liability heretofore experienced of looseness occurring at the pivotal joint, such looseness Fig. 9. This operation also splits at 40 the i being, multiplied at the at of the operating arm 33. v 7

At Fig. is shown a wire or strin for a musical instrument rovided with a otted end 44, said string ing assed through a perforation 45 in the head '25of the lever arm, and the knot serving in, lace of a nib or key 39, to enter the passageway at' 100 for retaining the string. ma e in the head within the groove,"so that the device will answer "for either loop, or knot.

At Fig. 9 is shown a thin spring finger 46 having a hole 47 to 'fit on stud 23, Fig. 5, and to be clamped between bracket 28 and tail-piece 30 by nut 31. The spring terminates in a rising finger49 having at its tip' 40 in the blank, and smooth its sides, or eliminate any roughness that may occur at the splitting of the partition between the openings.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, and portions of the 'im rovements may be used without others.

aving thus described my invention, I claim:

1. The combination of a bracket provided with means for attachment to a musical in strument, and'a lever having one arm for attachment to a string and another arm whereby the lever may be adjusted, said adjusting armextending along the bracket and the latter having adjusting means to engage the lever to tension the string; said lever having recesses on its opposite sides, to form shoulders, and said bracket having two holes in fastened to the tail-piece of a violin, and'a one of which the lever is articulated at said recesses, a closed split extending from one of said holes to the other.

' 2. As a new article of manufacture, means for adjusting the string of a musical instrument comprising a bracket having means for attaching it to the instrument and a lever articulated to said bracket, the lever having recessed portions on its opposite sides to form shoulders, and the bracket having an Outer opening in which the recessed portions of said lever loosely fit, the shoulders of the ing, the bracket at the outer end of said opening being whole or unbroken'and said bracket having an inner introductory opening, and a permanently closed passage from the inner to the outer opening. a

3. The combination of a bracket havin means for attachment to a' musical instrument, and having a whole or unbroken end,

. an opening being formed in the bracket near said whole end, and a string-tensioning'lever having a shouldered. fulcrum, portion, the

is hole is I metal between said portion of the lever next to said shouldered portion fitting .in said opening in" said bracket. l n v 4. The combination of a bracket having means for attachment to a musical instrum'ent,and having a whole or unbroken end, an opening being formed in the bracket near said whole end, and a string tensioning lever having a shouldered fulcrum portion, the port on of the levernext to'said shouldered portion fittmg in said opening in said bracket, said lever having an enlarged'head, and said bracket also having a largeopening and a closed passage between said openings.

having recessed portions on its opposite sides -to form shoulders, and the bracket having a closed opening in which the recessed portions of said lever loosely fit, the shoulders of the lever fulcruming upon the edges of the opening, the bracket at the outer end of said opening being whole or unbroken, and

said bracket having an inner opening, the I openings havinga closed split.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a twopart device for string adjustment, one part being a lever to which the. string is attached, the other part being a bracket having means for attaching it to an instrument, said parts articulated by means of a cutaway portion in the lever fitted in a closed oblong perforation in the bracket, said bracket having in its body an adjacent communicating introductory perforation sufficiently closed to confine the lever within the first perforation.

7. The combination of a bracket to be string-tensioning lever formed in one piece and having opp site integral shoulders, said bracket having a whole or unbroken integral end and said lever directly articulated to said bracket at said end, said bracket having ders and permanently locking the lever to the bracket.

8.- The combination of a bracket to be fastened to the tail-piece of a violin, and a string-tensioning leverformed in' one piece and having opposing integral shoulders upon each of its opposite sides,-said bracket having a whole or unbroken'integral end and said lever directly articulated to said bracket at said end; said bracket having a perforation at the point of articulation and also having opposite forced-in walls at said lever articulated to said bracket, the lever perforation, said lever extending between said walls and being fulcrumed upon said bracket by means of said shoulders, and said walls being confined between the shoulders upon the opposite sides of the lever and permanently locking the lever to the bracket.

9. The combination of a bracket having means for attachment to a musical instrument, and having a whole or unbroken end. an opening being formed in the bracket near said whole end, said bracket having a forced-in portion at said opening, and a string-tensioning lever having integral shouldered fulcrum portions above and be low said bracket, the portion of the lever between said shouldered portions fitting in said opening in said bracket and permanently interlocked therewith by said forced- 

